Vitamins for Hormone Imbalance - What Are You Missing?
There are several key vitamins for hormone imbalance that you may be missing causing your body to be out of balance. We'll cover those as well as a deeper understanding of what hormones are, how they work in a symphony in the body, and how to identify where you might be missing the mark, and how to find the right supplements for hormonal imbalance.
What Are Hormones?
Hormones are communication molecules that allow us to interact with our body as well as respond to its current environment. Hormones are present in very tiny amounts and your hormones work in a symphony – if one instrument is off, the entire show goes down. Hormone health can also affect the immune system. Together all of our hormones create the HPATG Axis.
The HPATG Axis
H - Hypothalamus (neural + immunity tissue) - Thoughts
P - Pituitary (neural + endocrine tissue) - Environment
A - Adrenal (endocrine system tissue) - Stress/Immunity
T - Thyroid (endocrine system tissue) - Metabolism
G - Gonadal (endocrine system tissue)- Reproduction
What Various Hormones Regulate in the Body
Regulating Stress - Cortisol and Adrenaline
Thyroid Hormones - TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone), Thyroxine (T4) and Triiodothyronine (T3)
Sugar Regulation - Insulin
Sleep Regulation - Melatonin
Reproductive Hormones - Estrogen, Progesterone, Testosterone
A Few Common Hormone Dysfunctions
There are a variety of symptoms of hormonal imbalance depending on what you might be dealing with. The most common that can affect your overall health. Having adequate hormone balance affects how we metabolize and get rid of hormones.
Estrogen Dominance
This is the most common imbalance for women who are premenopausal. Estrogen and progesterone, when out of balance, can cause estrogen dominance. This can especially be present in having trouble with weight loss.
Hypothyroidism
One of the most common hormone imbalances in America. Symptoms include cold hands and feet, dry skin, weak fingernails, GI dysmotility, fatigue, and weight gain.
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS)
Typically associated with high androgens. Symptoms include excess hair growth, ovarian cysts, infertility, irregular period or missing period.
Hormonal Imbalance Symptoms
Facial hair growth in women
Hair falling out
PMS
Cold fingers and feet
Weight gain
Skin conditions
Anxiety and depression
Causes of Chronic Hormone Imbalances
Stress - When stressed, cortisol levels can skew throwing off a whole slew of things in the symphony of hormones.
Malnourishment - Many obese people are actually malnourished due to fast-paced fast food and processed food diets.
Medications - For example a beta-blocker like Metoprolol used to treat hypertension (high blood pressure) interferes with thyroid hormone.
Toxins - Toxins from plastics, parabens, herbicide production byproducts, take-out food packaging, beauty products, and even the polluted air we breathe can promote endocrine disruption.
6 Essential Vitamins for Hormone Function
There are more than 6 vitamins and minerals that are essential for thyroid function. The 6 highlighted below are more common deficiencies.
1 - Vit D (D2 vs D3)
Vitamin D is actually a hormone. Be conscious of drinking too many alternative milk products, as many of these are fortified with Vitamin D2 which takes up space that Vitamin D3 needs in the cells. You can get your Vitamin D through the sunshine in the summer months when the sun's axis is closer to the earth, sans sunscreen. Foods rich in Vitamin D are fresh orange juice, eggs, mushrooms, and cod-liver oil.
2 - Magnesium
It’s a cofactor for Vitamin D and one of the things more than 50% of Americans are low on. Magnesium deficiency can contribute to constipation. It can also support estrogen metabolism and help balance the GABA-glutamate relationship. GABA, which stops chemical messaging to the brain, and glutamate, an excitatory neurotransmitter that is the carrier of messages between nerve cells, work together to help with quality sleep, stress reduction, and lowering anxiety.
3 - Vitamin K2
Vitamin K2 plays a role in estrogen metabolism, works in collaboration with Vitamin D, and helps the body takes up calcium. Good food sources of Vitamin K2 are grass-fed butter, fermented cheeses, egg yolks, salami, naturally fermented veggies (raw no vinegar), and organ meats. If you choose to supplement, you can try a K2 + Vitamin D supplement to ensure they are working together.
4 - Zinc
Zinc is necessary for T4 to T3 conversion for thyroid hormone synthesis. When not enough zinc is present, this can result in hypothyroidism or thyroid imbalance. Foods rich in zinc are oysters and sardines. Taking a high quality zinc supplement can also help improve gut health.
5 - B Vitamins
B vitamins are essential for people dealing with chronic stress, toxicity, and or estrogen dominance. B Vitamins are used in a symphony in the body. Excessive alcohol, nicotine, or the use of medications also deplete B Vitamins. B Vitamins are also associated with sleep and are necessary for good methylation. Two important B Vitamins are B6 and B12.
Vitamin B6 - Birth control knowingly depletes vitamin B6. And low B6 can have negative effects on your menstrual cycle.
Vitamin B12 - B12 is a critical nutrient for every cell responsibel for energy, nerve health, circulation, and detoxification.
Foods rich in a variety of B Vitamins are chickpeas, liver, spinach, broccoli, brussel sprouts, avocados, eggs and beef. If you choose to supplement, a great option is a multi-b vitamin.
6 - Selenium
Selenium plays a small but significant role in thyroid function. Not having enough of it can impair thyroid hormone metabolism. You can get your daily dose of selenium from just three Brazil nuts.
7 - Iodine
Iodine is essential for healthy thyroid function, specifically for T4. Foods you can add to your diet that are rich in iodine are seafood, kelp granules, and seaweed.
8 - Omega-3 Fatty Acids
Omega-3s help make hormones that regular blood clotting. Anchovies, mackerel, fatty fish like salmon, cod, herring, walnuts, and liver oil are all great sources of Omega-3s. Fish oil is a supplement that can help you obtain Omega-3s you may not be missing from food.
Supplements for Hormonal Imbalance
There are many blends of supplements for hormonal imbalanes on the market. Without testing your hormone levels it can be difficult to correctly start supplementation. When in doubt, test instead of guessing when it comes to starting supplementation with a trusted Functional Medicine Doctor.
Think Food First, Supplements Second
We always want to start with getting as many nutrients we can from food and then supplement second. Why? You cannot replace the nutrient diversity you get from foods with a pill or a powder. For example, a typical multivitamin has at most 30 vitamins and minerals, whereas a typical stalk of broccoli has over 500 nutrients.
It’s also important to note that compared to 1975 our food has much less nutrition due to topsoil erosion, monocropping, fertilizer use, and hybridization to make vegetables all appear the same/perfect to the consumer. For example, apples have 41% less Vitamin A, cauliflower has 48* less vitamin V1 and 47% less vitamin B2, watercress has 88% less Vitamin C and 50% less Calcium, and collard greens have 60% less Potassium and 85% less Magnesium.
Supplementation is a short-term strategy to give you what you need until you can rebalance your body. There are of course some cases where because of a genetic predisposition, you may need to supplement long-term.
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